Welcome to the Captain's Blog. These are my highlights of being principal of MAST Academy, Miami-Dade County Public School's Maritime and Science Technology High School. I welcome any questions or feedback from parents, students, and visitors. Please post your comments and questions using the comments link at the bottom of each post. I look forward hearing from and beginning conversations with the entire MAST family, past, present, and future.

MAST Mission Statement

MAST Academy provides a marine setting and a nurturing environment for studies leading to academic success, career preparation, an appreciation of the sea, and environmental awareness. Stakeholders work together to instill a commitment to life-long learning and to advance and improve a challenging curriculum integrated with sciences and technology.

We ended our voyage last week with a lot of fun. Many of our students came dressed in Halloween costumes showing a lot of school spirit. My favorite costume was definitely Stephan as you can see is this picture. He really did a great job and was a great me. On top of that, he and a team of defenders did a great job in Mr. Maas' Government class' mock trial where he and the defense team split the jury and a mistrial was declared by Judge Maas. Let's see if the prosecution decides to give it another go round!

More great news that I have not had the chance to share beyond the last PTSA meeting was the fact that 72 MAST students, another new school record, were recognized as Advanced Placement Scholars. These students represented 30 percent of the students who took AP exams last year. This is an amazing feat that says a lot about our community - students, teachers, and parents alike! This is one of the reasons why we all work so hard! Congratulations to all for a job well done!

Over the past few weeks we have also done a bit of grade level and school wide testing. A big thanks to parents, students, and teachers for all that they did to make PSAT and PLAN testing so successful. In another first, 100% of MAST 9th, 10th, and 11th graders took the PSAT and 100% of MAST 10th graders took the PLAN. It is inspiring as a principal to see students and families thinking ahead and getting prepared for college as early as possible. Much credit is due Ms. Ulman and Ms. Yancoskie for staying on top of everyone and making sure that we reached complete participation.

On a final note for this entry, I am thinking about inviting parents to participate in a book club. I have two titles in mind: Edwin Abbott's Flatland or Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind. I very much enjoyed reading both and I would welcome any feedback as to what anyone might think to be the more appropriate title. My thoughts are to begin reading and create a blog to hold the conversation before the semester break. Please, feel free to respond with any ideas. I believe it will be an amazing valuable experience for our community, and particularly our students, to begin additional discussions and to lead by example of adults reading as learning together.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

It certainly has been extremely busy for everyone at MAST - students and crew members alike - during the month of October. Just a quick overview of the month includes a huge Ecomedia press conference including visits by Mr. Carvalho and Mayor Manny Diaz, the first of the Fairchild Challenge events, many college admissions visits for seniors, Intel training, visiting professors from around the world, U.S. Coast Guard vessel tours at our dock, parent group meetings, PSAT for 9th, 10th, and 11th graders, a pending PLAN test, and election of MAST's Teacher of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year (Mr. Cruz & Ms. Plana - CONGRATULATIONS!), and a very successful magnet open house.

Our sails have been full of strong winds during the past weeks. Ms. Yancoskie and Ms. Garcia have both completed and passed reviews for renewal of their National Board Certifications. Mr. Cruz and Ms. Plana, as mentioned above, were chosen as MAST's representatives for the region and district competition for Teacher and Rookie Teacher of the Year, Mr. Tohulka is in the final preparations to become the first "Teacher Under the Sea" with the Aquarius Project, and we held an amazingly successful magnet open house for potential applicants.

Our magnet open house was extremely full as parents and students from around the district came to learn about MAST, tour the campus, and ask questions. Many thanks to all who made the event so successful but particularly to Dr. Haun for planning the event, the USCG JROTC cadets who truly shined and exemplified what it means to be a MAST student, Dr. Khalil, Ms. Ulman, Ms. Yancoskie, Ms. Fischer, Ms. Posse, Ms. McCrary, Mr. Siegmeister, Ms. Fernandez, Ms. Marquez-Diaz, Ms. Sinkler, Mr. Cherilien, CWO Hawkins, Ms. Layne, and the multitude of PTSA and JROTC Booster Club parents who volunteered their time to support our programs. We showed all who came to visit who we are and what we are about at MAST Academy! Mako Pride shone brightly!

Earlier in the month we hosted the Ecomedia "Green My School" competition press conference that included school, civic, and business leaders from across the country. Once again, MAST students and teachers put their best foot forward and delivered. I will post a slide show of the event in the weeks to come for all to see.

Other highlights of the past few weeks include guest lecturers in partnership with UM RSMAS from around the world. Professors Stefan and Vossler met and discussed global climate concerns with MAST students as well as sharing their research from across the world. Soon, MAST will be able to broadcast these lectures and special presentations to schools around the county live in hopes of sharing the experience and powerful learning with students beyond our school.

Please stay tuned and add your comments about this blog. More to come ...

Monday, October 6, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS!!! We did it once again. MAST is one of the best in Florida. As Governor Christ's letter says, "Earning this recognition is a distinct honor and demonstrates your proven ability to create a positive learning environment that encourages all studnet s to reach their full potential." Great job teachers, staff, students, parents, and all MAST community members!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Despite a very active few weeks in the Atlantic, we have managed to keep our voyage out at sea and sailing along nicely. We have had a very busy few weeks. We received word that Mr. Tohulka has been chosen to be the first "Teacher Under the Sea" with the Aquarius Project. He will have the opportunity to spent eight days living alongside scientists in an underwater habitat. Mr. Tohulka will have the opportunity to link back with students at MAST through blogs, email, and live streaming video.

The MAST Makos started off the year strong with both swimming teams and the girls' volleyball teams recording wins during the opening week of the season. The boys' and girls' swimming teams teams defeated Sunset at the Shark Tank. The Lady Makos lost a tough opening match to Ransom but came back to avenge the loss by defeating West Hialeah High.

On a more somber note, Mr. Stephens was reassigned and left our MAST family late last week. We will all miss him very much but we wish him the best on his new shores.

As a reminder, Back to School Night is quickly approaching. Our ship will come to port for parents and families to visit on Tuesday, September 23. Please be on the look out for more information and details in the coming week. We hope to see all families there!

Friday, August 22, 2008

After being delayed by Tropical Storm Fay, our 2008-2009 voyage got underway this past Wednesday. Our first three days went very smoothly. It was absolutely great having the ship full of students embarking on the next leg of their learning journey at MAST Academy. There was much that we did this first week and students were very busy collecting new books and materials for this year's classes. The MAST crew eased us out into the broad ocean of knowledge quickly and effectively began students' learning experiences right from the start. Congratulations to all! All ahead full!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tropical Storm Fay caused a delay in our setting sail for the 2008-2009 voyage. It was a blustery event for MAST Academy but we have gotten through without any major damage. Our ship has weathered the storm and passed inspection! We are awaiting the go ahead to sail into a new dawn. As we make plans to open school, please pay careful attention to local news sources and make sure that safety comes first as we begin to return to our normal routines. I hope to see you all aboard tomorrow. We sail forth on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 8 AM SHARP!

Monday, August 11, 2008

What an amazing summer we have had at MAST. The Summer Anchor program was terrific and the Class of 2012 is ready to start their new year with energy and excitement. It is hard for me to believe that we ahve just about finished another summer. Time flies by!

Tomorrow the Class of 2009 begins their activities. They will get their crown and their parking stops ready to represent their time as seniors at MAST. The new leadership team has been in touch and is getting things rolling. GO MAKOS!! Seniors, what will you make your time out to be?

The latest Jib Sheet has been mailed out to teachers and parents. It is a great piece that highlights new direction and focus for the coming year. This voyage is full of promise and I feel much anticipation for what the future holds. I believe we can make our ship tighter and faster yet!

I hope that you have each had a restful summer and are ready to begin the next leg of your trek at MAST. I cannot wait to see our staff and teachers beginning with the two opt days on Tuesday, August 12th and then for our opening day on Monday, August 18th. Enjoy the waning days of vacation and prepare to sail on!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today we had a great day of planning and getting ready to begin the MAST Summer Anchor Program. The whole staff participated and created their own individual weblog through Blogger.com. We each also created a Bloglines account to "catch" the students' postings. Tomorrow one of the first activities we will do is work with each of the students as they follow the same process to create blogs for themselves. The purpose of the student blogs is to collect artifacts of and record reflections on their learning throughout the summer. It is the first step in the development of our MAST ePortfolio, wherein students collect samples of and document their growth and learning over the course of their career at MAST.

Friday, June 27, 2008

This past Friday, MAST faculty, staff, parents and students had the opportunity to tour the Coast Guard's newest cutter and first in the new Legend class, the USCGC Bertholf. The 418 foot cutter was absolutely amazing. DC3 Russell lead us on a tour that included the flight deck and hangars, crew accommodations, damage control areas, and the bridge. We even got the chance to meet with the ship's captain, Captain Stadt. The vessel was truly magnificent. he view from the bridge and to see the technology involved in running such a ship was impressive. It was an extraordinary experience for MAST Academy. In addition, three USCG JROTC cadets and Chief Lasseter had he opportunity to be aboard as the ship left the Port of Miami on Saturday. I cannot wait to hear about their experience of actually getting underway on the USCGC Bertholf! (Click on he post title to see the USCGC Bertholf's homepage)

Friday, June 20, 2008

On Tuesday, June 17, we held a parent meeting to discuss the MAST Anchor Program - the ninth grade summer school course mandatory for incoming MAST ninth graders. We had an amazing turn out of about 200 parent and students. We discussed many details of the summer program including the class structure and activities, water safety, technology, academic performance, transportation, and the expectations and responsibilities of students at MAST Academy.

The summer school curriculum is broken down into four areas in which students will be working cooperatively throughout the school day. The areas include:

Science Research - Development of Science Fair topics, problem statements, hypotheses, materials and procedures, and research descriptions and plans.

This year we will also begin the process of electronic portfolio development by students with the creation of individual student weblogs on the first day of the program. Studnets will use thier blogs to record reflections on their learning, post questions, and track the personally meaningful learning activities experienced throughout their careers at MAST. Students will be swim tested and begin hands on activites in our unique marine environment beginning immediately. Seine netting form marine organism studies is slated to be one of our first experiments.

This summer promises to be extremely exciting for both students and teachers. If the parent meeting is a foreshadowing of the work to come, this will be one of the best we've ever had. I am looking forward to getting underway! Our voyage is looks promising - tight lines and fair winds!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Last night MAST Academy was recognized at the Dream in Green reception for an 8% decrease in energy consumption during the 2007-2008 school year. The MAST family saved 144,000 kilowatt hours in electricity, recycled 1000 pounds of beverage containers, 4000 pounds of paper, and 300 pounds of batteries. In addition, Dr. Khalil's Solar Energy classes have done a detailed energy audit and tracked energy consumption and done comparisons between this and last year over the course of months. MAST Academy students also received an honorable mention for the Dream in Green Research option at the Fairchild Challenge.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Emily, Ryan, Rhiannon, and Chris put on a terrific show. They, along with the stage crew and Mr. Hamilton, did an amazing job in their production of I Love You. You're Prefect. Now Change. They played to a packed house in the auditorium.

Congratulations to the MAST Mako Battalion for representing our school so well at the county-wide Pass in Review. The Makos looked sharp as they showed off what it means to be the ONLY USCG JROTC in the nation!

Danny Kirel and Lizzy Kourtesis represented MAST well at the MDCPS Scholar-Athlete Luncheon. Pictured here with their families, Danny and Lizzy exemplify dedication to studies and athletics. Lizzy also won the General "Chappie" James Gold Level Scholarship.

This year we brought the MAST Fishing Tournament. A good time was had by all both on the water and with the telling of fish tales at the end of the day. Congratulations to the anglers and a big thank you to the PTSA for al the work they put in to bring the tournament back!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Congratulations to Kevin Sigler for his scholarship from the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition. Kevin received a scholarship and we celebrated with a dinner hosted by the Fair trustees. Mr. and Mrs. Sigler and I were there to congratulate Kevin as he was presented his award!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

A great time as had by all! Grad Nite this year was terrific. The weather was great and we all ran around Disney World until the wee hours of the morning. Congratulations to the class of 2008 for making it such a great trip. See you next year, Mickey!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Hello and welcome to the Captain's Blog. As the principal of MAST Academy, I am trying out new technologies and searching out ways in which we can use them to help students learn and achieve more. This is my first attempt at blogging. I have learned how to post, link, and now even send pictures from my iPhone. The possibilities seem endless and I am excited to see where we will go! Here's to smooth sailing!

MAST ePublications via Yudu

Captain's Book Shelf

Interesting Quotes

At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done-then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.

- F. H. Burnett, 1911, The Secret Garden.

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly becuse we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.

- Aristotle

We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.